The use of ethanol to remove sulfur from coal. Final report, September 1991--December 1992

Technical Report · Thu Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10141011· OSTI ID:10141011

In developing the new Ohio University procedure the thermodynamic limitations of the reactions for removal of both pyritic and organic sulfur from coal at 400--600{degrees}C were studied using copper as a very strong H{sub 2}S-acceptor. Copper serves as a catalyst for ethanol dehydrogenation to form nascent hydrogen. Copper also serves as a scavenger to form copper sulfide from the hydrogen sulfide evolved during the reaction. Copper sulfide in turn serves as a catalyst for organic sulfur hydrodesulfurization reactions. If the coal to be desulfurized contains pyrite (FeS{sub 2}) or FeS, the copper scavenger effect reduces any back reaction of hydrogen sulfide with the iron and increases the removal of sulfur from the carbonaceous material. The desired effect of using copper can be achieved by using copper or copper containing alloys as materials of construction or as liners for a regenerable reactor. During the time period that Ohio Coal Development Office supported this work, small scale (560 grams) laboratory experiments with coals containing about 3.5% sulfur have achieved up to 90% desulfurization at temperatures of 500{degrees}C when using a copper reactor. Results from the autoclave experiments have identified the nature of the chemical reactions taking place. Because the process removes both pyritic and organic sulfur in coal, the successful scale up of the process would have important economic significance to the coal industry. Even though this and other chemical processes may be relatively expensive and far from being commercial, the reason for further development is that this process may hold the promise of achieving much greater sulfur reduction and of producing a cleaner coal than other methods. This would be especially important for small or older power plants and industrial boilers.

• Research Organization: Ohio Coal Research Center, Athens, OH (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Ohio State Government, Columbus, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 10141011
• Report Number(s): OCDO-94009644; ON: TI94009644; CNN: Grant CDO/R-90-03
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 15 Apr 1993
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
COAL
DESULFURIZATION
PYRITE
REMOVAL
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
COPPER
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
ETHANOL
DEHYDROGENATION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
AUTOCLAVES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
PROGRESS REPORT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
COPPER SULFIDES
010402
PURIFICATION AND UPGRADING